TasFarmers Matters - Labor perfects the backflip

LESS than 12 months ago, the Tasmanian Labor Party triggered a state election that nobody wanted.

Unsurprisingly, the voting public returned a parliament which, for all intents and purposes, was made up of each major party and the cross bench, holding the same number of seats.

The then party leader, Dean Winter, took full responsibility for the election result and upheld his commitment not to do a deal with the Greens to form government. Despite it being reported at the time that just as many Labor caucus members post-election remained supportive of Mr Winter remaining party leader, the compulsory leadership spill post-election loss resulted in Josh Willie being elected as the new party leader.

At the time of his appointment as party leader, Mr Willie spoke heavily about there being no shortcut to Labor forming government and that the party must pause, reflect, and then do the hard work to earn Tasmanians’ trust.

As we approach 12 months since the 2025 election was held, it is an opportune time to review progress made.

Despite ongoing engagement with industry to build an understanding of current challenges and opportunities, the party is yet to demonstrate that it is capable of forming an alternative, trusted strategy that will take the state forward.

As a generalisation, the party appears reactive, quick to point blame at the government and un-aligned on key party positions.

This is a major problem for Tasmania, which has for too long, desperately needed an effective opposition as part of a functioning government.

One must ask, is this perhaps a bigger driver of the state’s current financial woes than the party holding government?

It appears that Tasmanian Labor, like their federal counterparts during last week’s budget, have not learned that a foundation of being trusted is keeping promises.

A recent example has been the Tasmanian Labor Party’s backflip decision to treat primary producers as part of the community safety concern when it comes to firearm reform

 The party during December had confirmed to the state’s farming industry that “while firearm reform will be one part of the national discussion, Tasmanian Labor will not pursue changes that restrict the lawful, responsible use of firearms by licenced Tasmanians including primary producers, recreational hunters and sporting shooters”.

However, step forward three months, and without any meaningful engagement with the state’s primary producers, Mr Willie announced his intention to work with the Greens and cross bench to push through the introduction of caps on firearm ownership.

This decision was not backed by any evidence, science or facts.

It will impact the state’s primary production sector by removing access to necessary tools of the trade, reducing farm safety, increasing risk of animal welfare and further reducing farm productivity.

Such a decision goes against his day-one commitment as party leader to pause, reflect, and then do the hard work to build trust with Tasmanians.

TasFarmers strongly encourages Mr Willie to reverse his backflip if he truly wants to rebuild trust with Tasmanians as a pathway to forming government.

As it currently stands, when the next state election rolls around in 2029, Labor will have been in opposition for 15 years

If it wants to be seen as a viable alternative to voters, it doesn’t have a moment to wait in rebuilding community and industry trust.